Backing up the Kindle the first time

[zeb]

Hi,

I will pick up my Kindle Touch tonight. I am an experienced Linux user and wish to do some hacking with it.
However, I would like to back up its partitions before doing any manipulation. I read the various thread and the wiki (https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kind...Hacking#Backup). Is the jailbreaking required to backup the 4 partitions? Or is it possible to do this on an unmodified K5?

Thanks in advance.

[aditya3098]

If you check the simple debricking thread (sticky), you will find some "forensic" images i.e unmodifed root and diag partitions (p1, p2). P3 can be dumped (dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mmcblk0p3 bs=4K count=1024) and you can backup the usb drive by backing up all files (duh!).

[knc1]

Originally Posted by aditya3098

If you check the simple debricking thread (sticky), you will find some "forensic" images i.e unmodifed root and diag partitions (p1, p2). P3 can be dumped (dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mmcblk0p3 bs=4K count=1024) and you can backup the usb drive by backing up all files (duh!).

The usb drive is FAT, so ...
if you backup /dev/mmcblk0p4 at the device level, you backup the entire file system, including "deleted" files.

Which you can (off-kindle) un-delete within the usual limitations of msdos FAT un-delete tools.

Note: When you mount the image of mmcblk0p4 you have to specifiy an offset to losetup so that it can find the start of the file system in the image of the media (same as you would have to do with the image of a bootable floppy disk).

[zeb]

Thanks for your answer. But as far as I understand, /dev/mmcblk0p1 and /dev/mmcblk0p2 are only accessible on jailbroken kindles?

[knc1]

Originally Posted by zeb

Thanks for your answer. But as far as I understand, /dev/mmcblk0p1 and /dev/mmcblk0p2 are only accessible on jailbroken kindles?

Kindles with SSH enabled and/or a connection to the serial port.

Note: It is too late to get a copy of everything before "first boot" when it arrives, it arrives booted and asleep.

But you can (and should) pull the battery while making the serial port connections.
Instructions are indexed, see forum sticky above.

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by knc1

The usb drive is FAT, so ...
if you backup /dev/mmcblk0p4 at the device level, you backup the entire file system, including "deleted" files.

Which you can (off-kindle) un-delete within the usual limitations of msdos FAT un-delete tools.

Note: When you mount the image of mmcblk0p4 you have to specifiy an offset to losetup so that it can find the start of the file system in the image of the media (same as you would have to do with the image of a bootable floppy disk).

You can see how to mount it by examining my mntusb.params script inside my data.tar.gz in the "select boot" thread. It mounts the partition with an offset, as needed here. I could not call the built-in mntus script to mount it for me because that script sources mntus.params (i.e. infinite loop). It was easier to mount it myself than try to prevent looping, due to "sourcing" return value issues causing the startup script to reformat /dev/mmcblk0p1 after thinking it was corrupt because of bad mntus.params return values.

EDIT: You can also undelete a file on a kindle mounted as an exported USB drive. You just need to do a raw sector scan.

[zeb]

Thanks for the information.

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by zeb

Thanks for your answer. But as far as I understand, /dev/mmcblk0p1 and /dev/mmcblk0p2 are only accessible on jailbroken kindles?

JAILBREAK only installs a key to allowing installing developer-signed update packages.

On the K4 and K5 you can get root access and install custom software without a jailbreak. You can use an SSH shell from diags, or you can install stuff using the data.tar.gz methods.

[eureka]

If you have 5.1.0 KT and you know JavaScript and you can setup local webserver, you can get root shell without modifying KT. With root shell you can do anything.

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by eureka

If you have 5.1.0 KT and you know JavaScript and you can setup local webserver, you can get root shell without modifying KT. With root shell you can do anything.

You mean that they did not fix this with an OTA update yet? If not, they have "interesting" priorities.

[geekmaster]

There are other very easy ways to get root shell on any unmodified K4 or K5 (any firmware version). These will be published when other methods of getting root no longer work.

[flash2004]

Originally Posted by geekmaster

There are other very easy ways to get root shell on any unmodified K4 or K5 (any firmware version). These will be published when other methods of getting root no longer work.

Are you talking about the ENABLE_DIAGS method ?

[geekmaster]

Originally Posted by flash2004

Are you talking about the ENABLE_DIAGS method ?

ENABLE_DIAGS just boots diags. On a K5, to get SSH, you need a MODIFIED diags partition. K4 has SSH built into diags. Part of the simple debricking method is to flash a K5 diags partition that has SSH pre-installed just like K4 has by default.

There is an unpublished way to run code on K4 and K5 from the USB drive with NO modifications other than dropping two files (including ENABLE_DIAGS) onto the USB drive, then selecting a diags menu option to run one of those two files. I have shared this method with a few developers, and we all agree that it should be saved until other jailbreak methods no longer work.